Iowa Loses A Great Democrat

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Dave Bradley

Betty McMahon
Photo from email from the Muscatine County Democrats

On July 29th, 2023 the Muscatine County Democrats lost a great and longtime leader when Betty McMahon died at the age of 91. Betty was working at the county fair, manning the Democratic tent when she fell ill. She then passed a couple of weeks later in the hospital.

Betty knew pretty much every Democratic presidential candidate from Jack Kennedy on. When a national Democrat came through the area, they would go out of their way to see Betty. One that really impressed McMahon early on was Jimmy Carter.

When Carter entered hospice care earlier this year the Muscatine Journal interviewed McMahon on her memories of President Carter. Here is a short excerpt:

She had heard from her husband that he strongly supported the growing civil rights movement in the Democratic Party, which left many segregationists in the party feeling betrayed. He had served in the Georgia State Senate and then as governor. Still, in the Iowa caucus, he was competing against 16 other candidates, most of whom had greater name recognition than did he. It led to Carter putting an emphasis on his name, which he did as he entered the room.

“Hi! My name is Jimmy Carter,” he said with his pleasant southern drawl. “I’m running for president.”

At that moment, he had McMahon’s vote. Plenty of other people’s as well, as he swept the Iowa Caucus of 1976 and went on to gain the Democratic nomination. He would narrowly beat incumbent President Gerald Ford and become the 39th president of the United States.

McMahon and her friend Mary Ann Schepers were active in the Muscatine County Democrats at the time. They remember Carter visiting Muscatine many times during the caucus. During that time they became friends with the Carters, having many discussions about things ranging from current events to what was happening in the community.

It was after the campaign was over they got their biggest surprise. As part of a promise to Iowans made during the caucus for Iowa’s support, he invited 35 people from Iowa to his first State of the Union Address on Jan. 19, 1978. McMahon and Schepers were on the guest list.

We got to know Betty when we became politically active in the early 2000s. Betty was the county co-chair. Both of us were taken by Betty’s enthusiasm, knowledge and her warm friendliness. We immediately felt like we were longtime friends. 

As the years went on we spent much time at rallies and campaigning with Betty and the core of the activists in Muscatine County. Betty was almost always there leading the way. Few could match her spirit and determination to put Democrats in office.

The pre-caucus would always find Democratic candidates seeking her out to say “Hi.” That included Bill and Hillary Clinton, President Biden and President Obama. 

Betty was a bundle of energy and a very unique personality. On a personal note I loved to remind her every year that she shared a birthday with George W. Bush on July 5th. That would give her a chance to let loose with about a year’s worth of cuss words on me .

Let’s close with the tribute to Betty from her long time co-chair of the Muscatine Democrats Don Paulsen ( from the email from the Muscatine County Democrats):

A tribute to Betty

We recently lost an icon in Muscatine County Democratic politics. This is a tribute to Betty McMahon, who spent sixty years volunteering to make her community, state, and country a better place. She was the “Grand Dame” of the Muscatine County Democrats.

She started getting interested in the Democratic Party during the John F. Kennedy Administration. I was only ten years old at the time!

By then she had been married to Robert, or Bud as most people called him, since 1955. Bud served in the United States Air Force and was stationed in Alaska. Eventually, he became a rural mail carrier. One of his hobbies was raising and showing poultry and pigeons. He was especially fond of tumbler pigeons. Both he and Betty loved to dance, travel, and talk about their Charolais cattle.

The first time Iowa held the first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses was in 1972. In 1976 my wife Debbie and I were living in a rental house on Tipton Road, and the Bloomington Township caucus was in a farmhouse kitchen. I don’t know if there were even a dozen people in attendance. I don’t think I was a delegate to the county convention at that time, but eventually, I was in later years and noticed Betty, Ruth Webb, Marlyn Schepers, John Scott, and Peggy Dean in leadership roles. President Carter was one of Betty’s favorites. She said that once he flashed that smile she was hooked. Plus his honesty was another selling point. A lot of you probably saw the write-up in the Journal recently about Betty and Mary Ann Schepers talking about President Carter after he went into hospice care.

In the early 1990’s the County Chair resigned and at the following month’s meeting I was elected the new Muscatine County Democratic Party Chair. Soon afterward Betty and I were Co-Chairs and spent the next twenty years serving together.

In 1988 and 2004 Betty was really gung-ho on Dick Gephardt from Missouri for President.

Betty attended an untold number of County, District, and State Conventions through the years. And maybe even more candidate events and fundraisers. Sometimes Betty and I would go to an event at a local restaurant and some of her friends would be there. With a twinkle in her eye, she would say the gossip going around was that she was being seen with a younger man!

Bud and Betty donated a hayrack to the County Democratic Party to be used as a parade float. I helped Bud customize it so that it had sideboards on both sides. He did most of the work, of course! Back then there was a parade in Atalissa, Muscatine (4th of July), West Liberty, Nichols, Muscatine again (Great River Days), Conesville, and Wilton. And it’s still going strong today!

In 2010, I ran for a seat on the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors. We had an event at Tom and Becky Furlong’s cabin on the Mississippi River north of town on Highway 22. After giving a stump speech I opened it up for questions, and Betty made some encouraging comments. I excitedly replied, “Thanks, Mom!”

And she was like a Mom, to all of us. Rest in peace, Betty.

Don Paulsen, Past Chair, Muscatine County Democratic Party

Rest In Peace, Betty and thanks for what you did for your country and state.

About Dave Bradley

retired in West Liberty
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